0
0
Wolcott, Weekly combine for six TDs as Commanders roll in storm-delayed win
Mother Nature put on a show Friday in Wilson County. Unfortunately for Donelson Christian Academy, so did Friendship Christian running back Tyson Wolcott.
Wolcott’s 131-yard, three-touchdown performance propelled the Commanders to a 43-8 win over the defending state champions at Pirtle Field in Lebanon.
Wolcott says success is a simple formula.
“We have a great O-line, a great quarterback,” Wolcott said. “Receivers make plays when they need to. That’s it.”
The Commanders remembered DCA’s 47-0 victory in last year’s Division II-Class A quarterfinals.
“You know there was revenge on our mind,” said Commander wide receiver and defensive back Brock Montgomery. “They whooped us last year, and we came in (tonight) ready to play them.”
“Last year our line wasn’t physical enough,” Wolcott said. “We knew what we were doing, we weren’t physical enough, so this year we decided to change things up a little bit. Everybody got a little bit closer. We kind of bonded together, we grew that relationship of ‘All for one and one for all.’”
In a game delayed twice for lightning and ending just short of midnight, the Commander defense held DCA to 58 yards of total offense and Wildcat standout running back Ashton Jones to six yards on 13 carries. Between the Commanders’ stifling defense and misfires on shotgun and punt snaps, the Wildcat running game netted an astonishing -32 yards.
“They didn’t need to load the box against us,” said Donelson Christian Academy head coach Paul Wade. “The reason they didn’t need to load the box is because they were good enough. (Friendship Christian defensive coordinator) Duane Lowe does a tremendous job with the defense. We practiced all week for them to have nine guys in the box. Last year they had to do that because they weren’t good enough and had to play press, man on the outside. Because of how good they are, this year they didn’t have to do that. They could stay in their base 3-3-stack.”
Remnants of the day’s rainfall affected both teams in the first quarter as each side a safety due to a bad snap. Wolcott had two touchdown runs in the first period, from 55 and 35 yards, while Garrett Weekly added a 5-yard touchdown as the Commanders raced out to a 22-2 lead after the first 12 minutes.
Penalties and turnovers plagued DCA as the Wildcats finished with 205 yards in penalties and four turnovers.
Brock Montgomery got his first of two interceptions early in the second quarter, setting up a 4-yard Wolcott scoring run. Moments later, the game was halted by lightning with the Commanders leading 29-2 with 10:50 left in the first half.
Play resumed in the second quarter but was suspended again with 3:34 left in the half. Braden Ducharme’s 24-yard field goal cut the score to 29-5 prior to an abbreviated halftime.
Ducharme added the final Wildcat points on a 22-yard field goal with 8:48 left in the third quarter.
On three consecutive trips inside the Commanders’ 10-yard line, the Wildcats came away with six points.
“We have a sophomore center, a sophomore quarterback, a freshman receiver, sophomore receiver, our entire secondary is brand new, and we are going to have our ‘pains,’” Wade said. “We have got to get over the ‘youth movement’ thing if we are going to be there at the end.”
Weekly took off for an 80-yard score shortly after Ducharme’s second field goal, then added a 6-yard TD with less than four minutes left in the third quarter to cap the scoring.
Despite the lopsided score, Wade hopes to see Friendship again.
“In 10 weeks when we probably see this same team in the semifinal, we are going to be 10 weeks better,” Wade said. “Hopeful the younger ones will be a little better, and I’m challenging the seniors to pull them along and not give up on them.”
